Technorati authority

28 wolves killed in control since the beginning of the year

The Idaho Wolf Management Progress Report has been released by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. So far the report says there have been 28 wolves killed for 14 livestock animals taken. This doesn’t make sense when you consider that last month’s depredation numbers were the same as this month’s yet they report that 8 calves were taken and 10 wolves killed this month. Something didn’t get updated properly.

It also notes that “Additional capture efforts are planned through April.” This is noteworthy since wolves den in April. Does this mean that they have been capturing pregnant females just before denning? Usually ground trapping doesn’t occur when there is a chance of freezing temperatures due to the possibility of injury to the wolves’ feet so presumably capturing refers to aerial darting of wolves.

2 of the 4 wolf packs have disappeared and the overall population has dropped from 24 to 19 wolves

The interactions of wolves and moose on Isle Royale National Park have been studied for decades. In recent years the wolves, due to their low genetic diversity, have exhibited malformed vertebra and other deformities related to genetic inbreeding but they have persisted on the island.